James Cummings is on track for his most successful Group 1 season since joining Godolphin with eight wins at the highest level and five months of the racing term still remaining.
Cummings has already equalled his best mark of eight Group 1 wins achieved in 2018-19, five of them delivered by weight-for-age champion Anamoe, and he has genuine chances to add to that tally at Randwick on Saturday.
Aft Cabin is the early favourite for the Randwick Guineas (1600m), while Golden Mile and Cascadian tackle the Canterbury Stakes (1300m).
Two of Godolphin’s best three-year-olds, Aft Cabin and Golden Mile are each chasing redemption after losing a little of their gloss last time out.
The pair were both beaten as short-priced favourites, Golden Mile going down to Mariamia in the Expressway Stakes (1200m) in January and Aft Cabin enduring a torrid run when fifth in the Hobartville Stakes (1400m) last month.
Golden Mile suffered a subsequent setback, prompting Cummings to rejig the colt’s autumn and hone-in on a second-up tilt at the Canterbury Stakes (1300m) on Saturday.
He was kept up to the mark with a Hawkesbury barrier trial and an exhibition gallop at Randwick and while the horse appeared to finish a struggling third in the former, Cummings said the colt simply needed the hit-out.
“I think he’d gotten away on me a little bit,” Cummings said.
“I’d backed off him having not run him in the Hobartville and he’s a bull who had done particularly well between runs.”
Golden Mile has since stepped up his fitness regime and Cummings expects the Caulfield Guineas winner to make his presence felt on Saturday when he will also bid to press his Doncaster Mile claims.
“He’s only had the one run fresh-up, he did battle at weight-for-age against Mariamia but he was always going to improve with that run and if he can just get back on track with a nice run from a decent draw here, then it could set up the remainder of his campaign,” Cummings said.
Aft Cabin will likewise be looking to bounce back a race later in the Randwick Guineas (1600m) after finishing fifth as an odds-on fancy in the Hobartville Stakes.
Caught in no man’s land after a tardy start from the outside barrier, he was forced to expend early energy, zipping around the field to sit outside the lead and the effort told over the final 200m when he was overhauled.
He again has a tricky gate in 10 on Saturday, but Cummings hopes the colt can overcome it with a better start.
“Yes, he had a hard run last time and we were disappointed to see him finishing out of the placings, but when you get to this top level at set weights against three-year-olds, things have got to go right for you more than they go wrong,” Cummings said.
“The barrier is similarly awkward in the Randwick Guineas as it was in the Hobartville, but that’s alright.
“You have to deal with that, and the horse has got some early pace to be able to blend into the race and put himself there.”
Aft Cabin is a $2.70 favourite to bounce back, while Golden Mile is on the second line of Canterbury Stakes betting at $6.50, behind star New Zealander sprinter-miler Imperatriz at $1.90.
